Twelve centuries ago, when the capital of Japan was transferred from Nara to Kyoto, then known as Heiankyo, the new city was designed to be a perfectly rectangular area, around the Imperial palace. The grid of streets was also carefully aligned north-south and east-west, and this arrangement partially survived until today.

On the southern end of Heiankyo, the main street leading to the Imperial palace was lined by two temples: Sai-ji, the West Temple, and To-ji, the East Temple, the only one that survived until today…